The Celibate Athlete: Athletic Metaphors, Medical Thought, and Sexual Abstinence in the Second and Third Centuries CE

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dc.contributor.authorSecord, Jared
dc.date.accessioned2019-08-26T15:25:46Z
dc.date.available2019-08-26T15:25:46Z
dc.date.issued2018-01
dc.description.abstractIn this article, I propose a new way of interpreting athletic metaphors in early Christian literature. I argue that the metaphorical figure of the athlete would have evoked for ancient readers not simply the ideas of competitive struggle, but also the idea of sexual abstinence , a lifestyle choice closely associated with athletes in the Greco-Roman world. The article collects and discusses evidence for the practice of athletic celibacy, drawing together a disparate collection of medical and philosophical literature, with Christian sources, from the second and third centuries CE. It demonstrates that athletic celibacy was a familiar concept in this period , and that many observers were interested in the methods that athletes used to control their sexual urges, including applying lead plates to their loin muscles. The treatment of this evidence suggests that there was greater interest in sexual abstinence among non-Christians than has previously been understood, and that athletes were implicated in controversies about whether or not total abstention from sex was a healthy lifestyle choice. As such, I argue that it is plausible to regard the athletic imagery of early Christians not only as a metaphorical comparison between two kinds of strident individuals, but also as advocacy for the celibate life as the most healthful lifestyle.en_US
dc.identifier.citationSecord, J. (2018). The Celibate Athlete: Athletic Metaphors, Medical Thought, and Sexual Abstinence in the Second and Third Centuries CE. "Studies in Late Antiquity", vol. 2, Number 4, pps. 464-490. https://doi.org/10.1525/sla.2018.2.4.464/sla.2018.2.4.4644en_US
dc.identifier.doi10.1525/sla.2018.2.4.464en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/36868
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/110786
dc.publisherUniversity of California Pressen_US
dc.publisher.facultyArtsen_US
dc.rightsUnless otherwise indicated, this material is protected by copyright and has been made available with authorization from the copyright owner. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectPatristicsen_US
dc.subjectAsceticismen_US
dc.subjectEarly Christianityen_US
dc.subjectGalenen_US
dc.subjectLate Antiquityen_US
dc.subjectMetaphoren_US
dc.subjectAncient Sports/Athleticsen_US
dc.subjectSt. Paulen_US
dc.subjectAncient Medicineen_US
dc.subjectOrigenen_US
dc.titleThe Celibate Athlete: Athletic Metaphors, Medical Thought, and Sexual Abstinence in the Second and Third Centuries CEen_US
dc.typeunknown
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrueen_US
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